


Words of Wisdom

by Missuniverse5000bc



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, but Yaz loves her anyway, the Doctor needs all the help she can get
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-08-30 01:38:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16755397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missuniverse5000bc/pseuds/Missuniverse5000bc
Summary: The Doctor is as always determined to help others. They, however, are determined to help her in return - usually by offering advice on her love-life.





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor swung the console monitor around and breathed a sigh of relief, they had actually landed where she’d intended this time. The TARDIS clearly knew how much they all needed a break after the events on Kerblam and hummed soothingly.

Opening the doors proudly and allowing the others to step out and see for themselves the Doctor beamed at their surroundings.

A peculiar form of beach with no real coastline only circular pools of pink water, in various sizes and depths, dotted across miles of white sand. The air was comfortably warm and the area was wonderfully quiet. 

Behind the TARDIS was a curving cliff face and above it purple palm-like trees.

The Doctor smiled at her friends' pleasantly surprised reactions, they really did deserve a break. She let them walk further onto the beach and begin to look around.

 

“Back in a tick!” The Doctor called out after them, dashing through the TARDIS and into the wardrobe.

She had the perfect beach outfit in mind (if she could find it that was). 

_ Aha,  _ she thought,  _ brilliant! _

Changing into the pair of blue, pineapple-print swimming trunks and an equally bold but unmatching pink Hawaiian shirt she grinned at herself in the mirror before running out of the TARDIS onto the beach.

 

Ryan took in her outfit, “Well it’s a look, that's for sure”

“I’m sure it's fashionable somewhere” Graham joked

The Doctor laughed unperturbed, only pausing when she realised Yaz hadn’t given her verdict yet. She turned to face her, looking hopeful.

Yaz looked down at her feet quickly, avoiding the Doctor’s gaze.

“You look great.” She said, her voice a touch higher than usual.

The Doctor blushed

“Thanks Yaz”

When she finally looked away from Yaz and back over her shoulder Ryan and Graham had already set off down the beach towards a large pink pool.

 

They kicked off their shoes and socks and left their jackets on the sand, Graham sat down in the sand with a sigh and leant back with his head in his hands.

“I needed this” He smiled

“I think we all did” Ryan agreed, sitting down dramatically.

Yaz rolled her jeans up her calves before paddling out into the water cautiously, the Doctor watched her. Visiting Dan’s daughter had taken its toll on Yaz, she’d been more subdued since their visit, it only reminded the Doctor how close she’d been to losing her. 

 

The Doctor allowed Yaz her time to think as she watched her wander aimlessly across the shallow pool edge, her heart ached for her but she didn’t want to be overbearing.

Yaz disappeared off into the distance following parallel to the cliff face and the Doctor didn’t even to try and keep the forlorn look off of her face as she watched her go.  
  


“You know, she wouldn’t mind you talking to her” Ryan said quietly from the sand, over the noise of Graham’s snores.

“I don't know… She probably needs some space ” The Doctor hesitated

Ryan shrugged “She'll make an exception for you though” He said confidently.

The Doctor considered this carefully and finally made up her mind, setting off after Yaz around the cliffside. 

 

It wasn’t too hard to catch up, Yaz wasn’t walking with purpose and the Doctor was half running half walking. Yaz turned around as the Doctor approached,

“Um, I wondered if you wanted some company?” The Doctor questioned nervously

“Thank you” Yaz nodded.

They walked in silence for a while longer until the Doctor could no longer help herself,

“You did a brave thing…” She told Yaz gently.

Yaz shook her head. “Dan was the one who was brave.” 

“And you did an honourable thing by telling his daughter how brave he was.” The Doctor insisted. Yaz simply sighed,

“It was only right.” 

The Doctor awkwardly squeezed her shoulder in comfort not knowing how best to respond, she never ceased being amazed by the compassion of the humans she traveled with. Before she could put this into words Yaz stopped walking abruptly.

 

“There’s someone over there” She pointed towards a small figure huddled into a ball a short distance away.

“That’s not that unusual” The Doctor explained “It's not a very well-known place but it does get some travelers other than ourselves”

“By themselves though?” Yaz asked, already marching towards them. 

_It did seem a bit off,_ The Doctor thought  _wouldn't hurt to investigate..._

 

As they got closer the figure was definitely small, a child almost certainly. The girl looked up hopefully as they approached before a wave of disappointed passed over her face.

“Hey” Yaz said softly crouching down, the Doctor followed her

“I’m the Doctor and this is Yaz, what's your name?”

“Cerise” The girl whispered, wiping away tears from her blue skin.

“Did you come here by yourself?” Yaz asked gently. Cerise stared back with wide eyes,

“No, my parents brought me,” she inhaled deeply “ but I got lost…”

 

The Doctor sprung to her feet. “Well we can’t have that, let's go find them!” 

Cerise held onto Yaz’s sleeve after standing up slowly,

“Do you remember which way you came from?” Yaz tried, Cerise pointed further down the beach so they set off in that direction.

 

“So Cerise how old are you?” The Doctor looked down at Cerise, she still looked fearful though she clearly trusted Yaz at least. She had yet to let go of her arm.

Cerise held up 10 fingers briefly before clinging to Yaz’s arm once again.

“Have you been here before?” The Doctor tried again and Cerise shook her head.

Sensing she wasn’t really in the mood to do much talking the Doctor switched tactics to trying to distract Cerise instead. Talking was one of her best skills after all.

 

“I remember the last time I got lost, I was supposed to be going to the Blue Desert Mountain to see the walking cacti but I ended up right in the middle of this market hall instead and lost all signs of any exits! It was lucky one of the stall owners was a friend of mine who spotted me, I’d’ve been there hours otherwise!”

“But you're a grown up!” Cerise interrupted

The Doctor laughed, “I still get lost though! All the time,”

“Yeah, she's not that great at navigating” Yaz joked.

“Hey! It's not my fault the TARDIS has her own plans sometimes, and the controls are still new to me!

“That's what you say every time” Yaz shook her head whilst chuckling, the Doctor smiled fondly.

 

“Are you two married?” Cerise asked curiously

The Doctor stumbled, “No-” Yaz said quickly at the same time as her, she felt her cheeks grow warm.

“You act like it” Cerise giggled, the Doctor avoided eye contact with Yaz and studiously looked at the sand under her feet.

_ Well, at least she seemed to have cheered up, _ the Doctor thought to herself, it was certainly better than her being scared despite the Doctor’s embarrassment. As they rounded the next corner the Doctor scanned her sonic, they were definitely heading the right way.

Two more figures appeared in the distance and Cerise jumped up and down excitedly,

“That’s them!” She waved her hands in the air and the Doctor copied her,

 

They ran towards them as Cerise’s parents approached them hurriedly. Cerise launched herself into a hug with both her parents whilst speaking rapidly to them and gesturing back to Yaz and the Doctor.

“That's the Doctor, and that’s Yaz!” She beamed.

Her parents looked relieved,

“Thank you so much for helping her _ ,” _ The taller of the two said gratefully. Her skin was a much deeper blue than her daughter's but there were clear similarities in their features.

 

“Can we stay here and play in the pools?” Cerise asked hopefully, her parents glanced at each other before simultaneously agreeing.

Cerise cheered and grabbed Yaz’s hand pulling her towards the nearest pool. Yaz smiled and followed without complaint.

 

“Sorry about that” One of Cerise’s parents apologised “She gets attached to people quite quickly”

“That’s okay, we’re in no rush” The Doctor reassured, “I’m just glad Yaz seems to have cheered up as well” She took a seat in the sand next to Cerise’s parents who had made a similar decision, they introduced themselves properly as the Doctor sat down.

“I’m Mara, and this is Rissa by the way” 

“Very nice to meet you!” The Doctor replied.

She fell into an easy conversation with the pair of them and was only distracted when Yaz laughed loudly. She could see Cerise jumping up and down chaotically in the water. The Doctor looked up adoringly at Yaz, the sun lighting up her face was a beautiful sight. The Doctor thought she genuinely felt her hearts flutter for a moment.

 

Mara hummed,

“Have you told her how much you care about her?”

The Doctor startled, she really did need to start being more subtle about her pining...

“I keep trying but I don’t know how to say it” She explained quietly

“Then show her” Rissa said simply as if the answer was obvious

“Do something special for her” Mara added.

 

The Doctor pondered that in silence for a little while, before setting her mind on an idea

“Y’know what, I think I will!” 


	2. Chapter 2

_ A date, that's what humans who were seeing each other or wanted to be did, right?  _

The Doctor pondered as she wandered the TARDIS, she’d done dates before,  _ how hard could it be?  _

“Ryan!” She exclaimed as she entered the kitchen, he guiltily turned round, a very large bowl of her favourite cereal in his hands.

The Doctor overlooked this fact, she had more pressing questions to ask right now.

“What’s the best kind of date?”

 

“Is this about Yaz?” He asked without hesitating

“ _ No. _ ” The Doctor denied, Ryan shook his head in disbelief but thankfully didn't press the topic any further.

“Well dinner’s a classic I guess, can’t go wrong with that”

The Doctor grinned, “You’re right, thanks Ryan! Another gold star for you!”

He laughed and returned to shoveling cereal into his mouth as the Doctor bounded off.  
  


 

A while later Yaz entered the console room, the Doctor could feel her chest bubbling with nervous excitement. She had had plenty of time to plan by now and was determined to put the plan into action.

“So, where’re we headed?” Yaz asked casually

The Doctor bounced on her heels,

“Good question! I know this great restaurant. Proper nice, supposed to be King Betus‘s favourite, and trust me - he is well picky!”

Yaz smiled, “Sounds lovely, d’you want me to go tell the others?“ 

“Err they said they would sit this one out…” The Doctor quickly tried to explain,

Yaz looked confused.

“Yeah - Ryan said something about family bonding time?” She continued vaguely and rather unconvincingly.

Not that it was a complete lie. Ryan had, in fact, suggested he and Graham find something to occupy themselves within the TARDIS so the Doctor could spend some time alone with Yaz earlier that morning. The Doctor had flushed with embarrassment but was too grateful for his offer to complain about his teasing.

Yaz looked skeptical but after a pause didn't question the Doctors strange behavior and accepted it anyway.

 

The Doctor turned and focused on the controls, letting out a small sigh of relief. She could feel Yaz’s gaze on her back but didn't dare turn round and make eye contact again. Her cheeks felt far too warm.

Fortunately, they landed swiftly and at the intended destination.  _ Thank you  _ the Doctor thought to her TARDIS who hummed in return.

 

The restaurant was within a building that resembled a palace in its size and decor, with an intricately painted ceiling. It certainly did not disappoint in its reputation.

They both stopped in their tracks to admire the architecture before they entered the ridiculously fancy restaurant. The host initially gave them a rather snide look before the Doctor flashed her psychic paper. This seemed to do the trick and a waiter hurriedly ushered them to a table.

 

Their waiter left them in silence after handing them the menus, suddenly the Doctor couldn't seem to stop the nervous jumble of words falling from her lips. Maybe she really was socially awkward.

_ Okay, she was definitely rambling now... had she already told Yaz this story about the hedgehog? _

It was a few moments before the Doctor realised that Yaz wasn't even pretending to listen to her rambling anyway, which was very unusual but probably fortunate today. She was instead looking around the restaurant uncomfortably.

 

“I feel a bit under-dressed, everyone here looks like royalty...” She muttered

“Oh, They probably are.” The Doctor said offhandedly

Yaz chewed her lip nervously, the Doctor turned in her chair and met the gaze of the couple on their left who were looking down at them judgingly. She shot them a glare before turning back to Yaz and reaching out for her hand across the table.

 

“I’m sorry…. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by bringing you here, we can leave and go somewhere else-” The Doctor apologised earnestly. Yaz cut her off,

“No, no! it's beautiful here, it really is I just can’t help feeling a bit like I don’t belong here...” She tried to explain.

The Doctor sighed, this wasn’t how she’d envisioned their date.

“Yaz. You’re the most beautiful person I know if anything  _ they _ don't belong here with attitudes like those!”

Yaz didn’t respond to that, just stared at their interlocked fingers. The Doctor smoothed her thumb over Yaz’s palm in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture.

 

Their moment was interrupted by the approach of a waiter, the Doctor cleared her throat and quickly ordered drinks for both of them. Neither of them had even looked at the menus anyway but the Doctor had heard good reviews on the Cloudberry juice.

“Its like lemonade but purple and better!” She told Yaz quickly, pushing the main menu towards her. Yaz smiled and began to carefully read through it, stopping every so often to question or ask the Doctor’s opinion on the ingredients she didn’t recognise.

Their attention was diverted, however, by the arrival of another pair of guests who were lead to the table behind them. Both were well over 7ft, broad-shouldered and covered head to toe in thick dark green fur, each had menacing red eyes and clawed paws. They sat down clumsily on the too-small chairs.

 

The snooty couple to the Doctor’s left seemed even less impressed by the newest arrivals than they had been on Yaz and the Doctor’s entrance.

“This place has really gone downhill if this is the kind of riff-raff they’re letting in now” One of them muttered, deliberately loud enough for those around to hear.

“This is unacceptable” Their partner grumbled before bellowing “Manager! I want to speak to the manager!” 

Two waiters hurried over to their table and tried to diffuse the situation whilst another disappeared into the kitchens only to return with a stern-faced man in a suit - the manager presumedly.

“What appears to be the problem?” He asked resignedly as if he was already predicting the outcome.

 

The snobbish woman piped up eagerly:

“We thought this was a reputable establishment, and yet these heathens are not only being served but seated right next to us!” She cried dramatically, clutching her hand to one of her many necklaces.

 

Despite their imposing physique, the two new aliens had remained seated and non-confrontational, they had yet to speak up in their own defense and remained silent even as the couple continued their complaints. 

“We would like them removed immediately.” 

“My wife and I will not be returning to this establishment if not, and believe me, with our reputation that will be the end of your business Sir” The couple demanded.

 

The Doctor was already out of her seat at this,

“Hey! These fellas have done nothing wrong! They haven’t even said a word to these two, you can’t just chuck them out!” The Doctor exclaimed, turning to the overwhelmed manager.

 

The woman was outraged “Excuse me, do you know who I am?

“Does it matter?!” The Doctor shot back, “What you’re doing is wrong.”  
  


The Manager blanched and quickly cut them off, clearly he did know who this woman was.

“I’m sorry - I’m going to have to ask you all to leave…”  He said to both the green-haired aliens (who were already standing up and beginning to head towards the door) and the Doctor herself. 

The Doctor did not move to leave, she was still glaring at the couple’s smug expressions. 

This did not react well with either of them.

 

“I will have you arrested - this is not how an Archduchess should be treated!” The woman shrieked.

The Doctor scoffed loudly and was about to reply before Yaz placed a hand on her arm,

“Doctor come on, we can find somewhere else. It's not worth getting into trouble today” She said softly.

The Doctor sighed, this was  _really_ not how she had envisioned today. Yaz was right though, the Doctor had been banned from enough restaurants throughout the galaxy as it was. Reluctantly she grabbed her coat and turned to leave, looping her arm with Yaz’s on their way out.

  
  


They caught up with the green-haired couple outside, one of them waved cheerfully at them.

The Doctor sighed “Sorry that didn’t turn out how I’d hoped…”

“Don’t worry about it, thanks for trying” One of the two smiled widely. 

“We’ll just go somewhere else for dinner” The other shrugged,  “Ooooh maybe a picnic” he added, surprisingly positive despite his menacing appearance.

 

His good mood was contagious, and the Doctor was feeling more upbeat once again. It was always reassuring to meet people with that kind of outlook on life, and it always seemed to happen where she least expected it.

They walked as a group as far as the TARDIS, when they reached it they said their farewells and the Doctor turned to follow Yaz into the police box.

 

She was stopped by one of their new green-haired friends who wiggled his eyebrows (or at least raised where his eyebrows would have been if his skin wasn’t entirely covered by fur) and asked “First date?”

The Doctor stumbled,  “Well… I never actually got round to confirmin’ whether it was a date or not…”

He laughed loudly, 

“Ah well, better luck next time” He said, clasping a massive paw on her shoulder “Sometimes the best dates are the simplest anyway, something a little closer to home”

“I’ll keep that in mind” The Doctor grinned.

  
  


Yaz was waiting by the console when the Doctor entered the TARDIS, she was about to apologise again for the mess she’d gotten them into but stopped when she realised Yaz was smiling brightly.

“Well. That was eventful” She laughed, the Doctor couldn’t help but laugh too.

“What do you say, a cuppa tea and some toast?” Yaz suggested kindly, the Doctor exhaled in relief.

 

“I think that sounds absolutely perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already have inspiration for the next chapter, I was struggling not to just start writing that and leave this one.   
> I persevered though, you're welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor exhaled and straightened her shoulders, determined. This time her attempt at a date would go to plan. She had dropped her companions off in Sheffield for a couple of days allowing Yaz to catch up with her family then go to work for the day and Yaz had promised to come and see the Doctor after her shift - the perfect opportunity for date attempt 2!

After last time the Doctor had decided simplicity was probably the safest option (although she had never been particularly good at ‘safe’), perhaps something a little closer to home was the way to go after all. 

 

There was a polite knock at the door to the TARDIS, 

“Doctor?”

Yaz called out, startling the Doctor from her thoughts.

“One second! I'll be out in a mo’” She called out, grabbing the purple speckled flowers she’d picked up especially for Yaz.

 

The Doctor took a deep breath then flung open the TARDIS doors.

“Here!” She thrust the flowers out in front of herself and was greeted by Yaz's surprised face.

“Wait, for me?” She seemed uncertain.

The Doctor laughed, “Well I don’t see any other incredible police officers from Sheffield named Yasmin Khan, so they must be yours!” 

Yaz took the flowers cautiously, “Thanks,” s he smiled wistfully “don’t think I’ve been given flowers before...”

The Doctor looked scandalised “What?! Well, that has to change! Starting from today”

Yaz smiled but didn’t look up to meet her gaze, still staring at the flowers in her hands.

 

The Doctor watched her carefully, a wave of emotion passing over her body as she admired her perfect friend.

Yaz looked up abruptly and caught her gaze, if she had been aware of the Doctor’s staring she kindly didn’t mention it.

“Okay, let me head back to my flat to get changed out of my uniform and put these in a vase” 

“Perfect - to Yaz’s then!”

  
  


As the Doctor followed Yaz inside her flat they were met with silence, Yaz kicked her boots off so the Doctor copied - not wanting to be rude.

Yaz startled slightly as she entered the kitchen. Peering around her the Doctor saw Sonya was sat at the table, a laptop and textbooks spread around her but her focus had clearly been on her phone. Sonya’s eyes traveled towards the Doctor and she smirked. Unsure how to respond the Doctor waved awkwardly.

“Hi Sonya” Yaz sighed, marching straight into the kitchen and filling a jug with water before placing the flowers into it on the windowsill.

“Nice flowers.” Sonya commented with raised eyebrows, Yaz ignored her.

 

“Just sit anywhere, I’ll be quick,” She said to the Doctor before disappearing into her room.

The doctor awkwardly perched on the sofa, Sonya watched her from over the top of her laptop screen.  The Doctor fiddled with her sleeves self consciously,  _ was this the part where she was supposed to do small talk again?  _ _ She wasn't sure Yaz's family had been too impressed with her last attempts... _

Thankfully Sonya interrupted her internal panic,

“Don't look so worried. I'm not my mum, I'm not gonna interrogate you” She laughed. “Well not as much anyway.”

She turned back to her laptop and frowned at it, hitting it a couple of times.

 

“Technical difficulties?” The Doctor asked, finally something she could do something about.

Sonya huffed,

“I need a new laptop. This one's taking the piss, I have a deadline tonight and it's freezing every 5 seconds”

“I could see if there's anything I can do? I'm kinda a whiz with tech stuff” The Doctor announced.

“Sure, why not? Have at it” Sonya pushed the laptop across the table towards her.

 

The Doctor studied it carefully, basic 21st-century tech was a breeze, she aimed her sonic at the hard drive.

“There boosted the memory and core speed- should be much better now!"

Sonya looked skeptical but after a few minutes of using the laptop without it crashing or lagging she grinned 

“I'm not even gonna ask how you did that, but thanks”

The Doctor beamed proudly “No problem! Easy fix really, technology is my jam”

Sonya laughed. “You're kinda weird you know that?”

The Doctor laughed too “I have been told that a few times”

 

They returned to silence for a bit as Sonya went back to her work. It clearly wasn't holding her interest though as she looked back up after a few moments with a worryingly mischievous grin. 

“So, who made the first move?” She didn't leave time for the Doctor to answer,  _ not that she knew what to say to that anyway. _

“Yaz is a mess around cute girls so I'm assuming not her. Although you don't exactly seem like you know what you're doing either. No offense.” She shrugged

 

It took a few moments for the Doctor to catch onto what Sonya was implying

“Oh! No no, we aren't seeing each other”  _ Not with her current luck at least. _

 

“Did she tell you to say that?” Sonya laughed “It's okay, not sure what Yaz is so worried about. Mum already knows- Yaz never shuts up about how amazing you are”

The Doctor smiled wistfully “Yaz is the amazing one. She's the greatest”

“Sure, if you like being bossed around I guess” Sonya shrugged “But if that's what you're into I'm not judging”

Sonya looked at the Doctor curiously

“Wait are you two really  _ not _ dating?!”

The Doctor sighed.

 

“Typical Yaz. You have to spell it out for her, she's never gonna assume you're interested by herself no matter how much time you spend staring at her” Sonya explained.

Before the Doctor could respond to her advice Yaz emerged from her room and out of the corridor. Her hair down apart from her space buns and now wearing jeans and a cosy jumper rather than her uniform. The Doctor looked at her nervously, hoping she hadn’t overheard the last part of her’s and Sonya’s conversation. 

 

“Right “ Yaz declared, glaring at Sonya who was smiling faux-innocently, “Let's go” She turned and headed towards the door, grabbing a jacket along the way.

The Doctor swiftly set off after her but not before catching Sonya mouthing the word ‘bossy’ before she left. The Doctor smiled to herself once her back was turned and followed Yaz out of the flat.

  
  
  


“So! You're in charge, where’re we off to this evenin’?” She asked Yaz cheerily,

Yaz considered this for a few moments before suggesting

“We could go to the Winter Gardens I guess? Bit cold to be outside wandering round town”

“Sounds fab!” The Doctor replied instantly, as she would have done regardless of what Yaz had suggested. She walked closely beside Yaz, their arms brushing as they chatted and walked through the chilly evening air.

They stopped en route at Yaz’s suggestion to get something they could take with them and eat along the way. This ended up being a pizza slice for Yaz which the Doctor decided to copy, immediately making a mess as she tried to eat the greasy food whilst walking and rambling between bites.

 

They entered the Winter Gardens through the glass doors and made their way to a bench overlooking the indoor plants.

“Sorry, this probably isn't very thrilling for you when you spend all your time traveling through space and time an all…” Yaz apologised

“Nonsense!” The Doctor exclaimed through her last mouthful of pizza "I love the little things like this too. And this  _ is _ an alien planet to me! Just as exciting as out there is for you” She gestured to the sky. Yaz raised her eyebrows slightly, disbelievingly.

The Doctor insisted, “I love Sheffield! I'm having a great time Yaz, and Greg makes excellent pizza slices too!”

Yaz burst out laughing at that last comment and then drew her into an unexpected hug, resting her chin on the Doctor's shoulder. She reveled in the moment, not wanting the closeness to end. 

The Doctor tried not to look too disappointed when Yaz pulled away but after a few moments she leant into the Doctor’s side and rested her head against her shoulder once again. 

She  _ would  _ tell Yaz how she felt, just maybe not today. The moment felt too perfect to risk breaking, and the fear and pressure were bubbling up in her chest already just thinking about saying it. 

 

Yaz squeezed her hand, seeming to have felt her tensing up. Their eyes locked and the Doctor relaxed, meeting her gaze with a soft smile that Yaz returned. 

 

_ For now it could wait. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the fact I still have one week left of uni and I just want to go home already and sit in the Winter Gardens with a greggs pizza slice :'(
> 
> Also can't believe i've managed to use the phrase '___'s my jam' in two different stories
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor’s eyes snapped open, she breathed heavily from where she was slumped uncomfortably by the console. She could feel the TARDIS humming soothingly in the back of her mind pulling her away from the memory of what must have been a dream. Well, nightmare.

Memories of her dream flashed through her head, she pushed the thoughts back. Her team was safe, Yaz was safe, they were just sleeping. 

_ I know,  _ the Doctor told her blue box, but she was struggling to convince herself.

Lights glowed brighter down one of the corridors, the Doctor found her feet following, still slightly dazed. The TARDIS led her to what was definitely Yaz’s door.

_ She’s sleeping, I don’t want to wake her _

The TARDIS ignored her, and Yaz’s door creaked open slightly

 

_ Fine,  _ The Doctor caved and raised her fist to knock lightly on Yaz’s door, footsteps sounded towards it and Yaz opened it gently. 

“Doctor?”

She was dressed for bed, wearing a baggy t-shirt and shorts but she didn’t seem to have been asleep recently.

“Hi…“ The Doctor stumbled  “just checking up on you? I didn’t wake you did I? **”**

“No, no I've just been reading, it feels like it should be morning and I'm all jetlagged” Yaz explained. “Did you need something?”

“No, no, just bored. Sorry - you know me, don’t need as much sleep as you humans, always looking for stuff to do to pass the time in between.”

“D’you want to sit and chat for a bit?” Yaz suggested

 

She should probably excuse herself. Yaz was here - alive and breathing, the Doctor had no reason to hang about now that she had proof Yaz was safe. The feeling of calm and relief as she stood near to her was too comforting to pull away from though. The Doctor found herself nodding and following Yaz to where she sat on her bed, perching awkwardly next to her.

“Do you have trouble sleeping?” Yaz asked gently, seeing right through the Doctor somehow.

“S’pose,” The Doctor tried to reassure “I’m used to it though. And it's not like I need to sleep all that often anyway”

Yaz paused, “Is there anything that helps?”

 

Normally she might have been hesitant to express her feelings but right now the Doctor was feeling more vulnerable than she had in a while, despite the lack of real danger. Maybe it was the lack of danger or problems to solve that was leaving her with too much time to think and worry. 

She realised Yaz was still waiting for an answer,

“Talking, TARDIS maintenance stuff, just taking my mind off of things y’know? My thoughts get too loud and I can’t sleep. Or I can sleep but those thoughts get twisted and turn into dreams.”

  
Yaz nodded in understanding but didn’t ask which was the case tonight, 

“I’m always grateful for a dreamless sleep, normally my dreams are... disorientating”

“Do you ever get nice dreams?” The Doctor asked

“Yeah, I mean we see plenty of amazing things to dream about.” Yaz hesitated before asking “What about you?”

The Doctor thought back to the times she was greeted by happier memories of the people she traveled with in her sleep, “Occasionally” she smiled and Yaz returned it. 

 

They held each other’s gazes in silence for a few moments before the Doctor felt her cheeks grow warm as she became aware of how close they were sat. Yaz seemed to come to a similar conclusion and dropped her head so she could stare intently at her hands clasped in her lap instead. 

The Doctor followed her gaze, she couldn’t decide whether to take the pause in conversation as a good time to say goodnight and leave or whether to come up with something new to say and prolong her time with Yaz.

_ Either way though, she should probably stop staring at Yaz’s beautiful bare thighs. _

 

She snapped her gaze back up, 

“Well erm I should let you sleep, so, er good night…” she said too loudly as she stood to leave suddenly but Yaz stopped her before she could walk towards the door, placing a hand on her arm from where she stayed sat on her bed.

“Are you alright? You seem jittery and weirder than normal.”

The Doctor tried to sound convincing “Nope, no I'm fine, right as rain”

“Are you sure? I feel like I'm making you uncomfortable” Yaz looked nervous, almost afraid. She let go of the Doctor's forearm.

“I don't mean to be so clingy if you need space just tell me and I promise I won't be mad or anything, I know I can be overbearing.”

 

The Doctor blinked in surprise “Wait, what? No! Yaz you've never been overbearing, what gave you that idea?” she exclaimed.

Yaz fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt  “Well you know… just past.. crushes I had, I guess I was just a bit too obvious about how much I liked them”

This was a lot for the Doctor to process, there was so much she needed to tell Yaz, so much Yaz clearly needed to hear by the sounds of her past experiences and-

“I love you.”

Or that worked too. Stupid mouth, was her brain even wired to her vocal cords? Talk about overbearing,  _ crush _ is what Yaz had said and here the Doctor was talking about love.

Yaz hadn't quite recovered from that outburst, her mouth was hanging open.

 

“Sorry” the Doctor confessed “well not really, I meant it obviously, how could I not? You're Yaz, you're amazing. But it was supposed to be smoother than that. And I wasn't supposed to let onto the fact it's not just a crush and I'm completely in love with you until after a few more dates at least”

“Dates?” Yaz managed to ask following the Doctor’s rambled speech.

The Doctor flustered “I mean of course my first two tries don’t count officially anyway since I never got to ask you if you wanted them to be dates…”

This didn’t clear the confusion on Yaz’s face, “Wait- when?”

“The restaurant and then our evening in Sheffield the other day,” The Doctor clarified.

“Oh…” Yaz seemed to be re-evaluating the past few weeks in her mind. 

 

“Oh!” She put her head in her hands, “Ugh… I’m sorry I’m so dense. You even bought me flowers, how did I not realise??”

“No, no this is my fault. I should’ve just told you. But that made me so much more nervous that I thought it would be easier to just show you how I felt but then that turned out to be way more complicated than it should have been because I kept getting things  _ wrong _ ” The Doctor groaned in frustration.

“Okay maybe we’re both kinda dense” Yaz looked up finally, a soft smile on her face. “I love you too”

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief, “Maybe tomorrow we could go on a proper date?” 

Yaz beamed “I’d love to.”

The Doctor bounced on her heels before placing her hands on Yaz’s shoulders and kissing her forehead. “Good night Yaz”

“Good night Doctor” She replied softly

 

As the Doctor skipped down the corridors she knew there was no way she would get back to sleep now, she had far too much energy. Except now whilst her thoughts were loud at least they were cheerful ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I finally got the motivation for writing back after 2 deadlines.  
> I made it home from uni and now i'm making my mum watch all of The Good Place with me, I should have more writing time now too :)


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor tapped her fingers impatiently against the countertop, _did humans usually sleep for this long?_

She looked down at the dismantled toaster in front of her, nothing was quite holding her interest. Her mind was occupied with monitoring the time that had passed since she had last said good night to Yaz, 7 hours 14 minutes and 34 seconds ago. The night had gone torturously slowly but it must have been long enough by now, surely? Her friends would be wanting breakfast soon. The Doctor looked at the mess in front of her, _she should probably reassemble the toaster in that case_ , Graham would be grumpy if he couldn’t make a crumpet.

“Good morning” A voice sounded from the doorway. The Doctor spun around,  
“Yaz! Sleep well?”

She nodded and crossed the room, stopping when she clearly noticed the mess the Doctor had tried to stand in front of.

“Woah what did the toaster do to you?”

The Doctor tried to hide her embarrassment. “Oops, just tinkering… Thought I could make some improvements”

“Ahhh,” Yaz laughed “Cereal it is then” she carefully poured herself a bowl, completely at home in the TARDIS kitchen.

 

Abandoning the toaster for now the Doctor followed Yaz to the table and sat down next to her. She smiled awkwardly, “So…”

“So” Yaz smiled “Do I get a proper kiss this morning?”

The Doctor inhaled sharply, she'd had a lot of time to regret not kissing Yaz last night. After everything thing that was said she’d kind of panicked in all honesty.

She nodded and lifted a hand to cup Yaz's cheek-

 

“Mornin’ ” Ryan announced from the doorway. Yaz and the Doctor shot apart guiltily.

“Am I interrupting something?” He smirked

“Yes.” Yaz said, annoyed, at the same time as the Doctor's embarrassed mumbling.

 

Ryan just laughed as Graham strolled through the door seconds afterward, a newspaper in hand and completely unaware of his equally bad timing.

“Mornin’ ” He repeated and made his way to the kettle, either not noticing the awkwardness or choosing to ignore it.  “Tea?”

 

Ryan shrugged, “Sure”

“Yes please” Yaz answered after rolling her eyes. At least she seemed amused, the Doctor would just have to make up for their interruption later.

 

“Doctor?” Graham lifted her favourite mug, the one with a giant Custard Cream pictured on its side, in question.

She sighed and nodded, “Thanks Graham”  _might as well have tea to go with her breakfast of mostly biscuits_ she supposed.

 

The Doctor turned back to face Yaz and smiled fondly, she felt Yaz grab her hand beneath the table in response and struggled to hide her grin.

She clearly failed at being subtle about this as Ryan looked at them questioningly, their responding blushes seemed to be enough of an answer for him. Thankfully he didn't ask any further questions, the Doctor was still trying to answer some of them herself.

 

“What's on today's schedule then?” Graham asked placing mugs of tea on the table and sitting down.

The Doctor had no idea, she’d been overthinking it all night.

“Yaz, why don’t you pick?” She tried.

Yaz smiled, “Wherever the TARDIS takes us is fine by me”

There was a cheerful buzz from the TARDIS in response. The others seemed satisfied with Yaz’s choice too and Graham nodded “As long as it doesn’t involve too much running, I’m happy”

“Don’t jinx it” Ryan added and the Doctor beamed,

“I’m sure the TARDIS will make a great decision for us”  

They fell into an easy conversation, the Doctor smiled to herself as she enjoyed being apart of a team once again and returned to her biscuits as they finished their breakfasts.

 

 

The TARDIS vworped as she landed and the Doctor skipped around the console, glancing at the monitor before flinging the doors open.

“Good choice!” She tapped her blue box gratefully, “Right guys, you’re looking at one of the best places to go dancing this side of the Milky Way!”

Ryan raised his eyebrows, “Doctor if you really wanted to go clubbing you shoulda let us take you to Corp when we were in Sheffield.”

“Really Ryan? Corp?” Yaz scoffed

“Hey, it's a decent night out” He shrugged defensively, and Yaz laughed. The Doctor wasn’t entirely sure what they were talking about, and neither was Graham by the looks of it.

“Not sure the kind of music they’ll play is really my thing if it is a club Doc” He said, unsure.

The Doctor was quick to reassure him, “Don’t worry Graham, you can listen to whatever music you like. That’s the best part - everyone hears the music they want to, as long as you’re wearing one of their wristbands the neurolink lets you pick whatever you want from your memories.” She boasted, watching as Yaz and Ryan looked intrigued also.

“Elvis it is then!” Graham declared happily

The Doctor cheered “That's the spirit Graham!”

 

They skipped the queue thanks to the Doctor’s psychic paper, the hall did not resemble the kind of nightclub that would be found on 21st-century earth (at least as far as the Doctor could remember). It was more brightly lit and its decor was an attempt to have something familiar for every species of the very diverse crowd.

The Doctor lead them over to a booth and gestured to a tablet in the middle, entering some details and discretely using her sonic.

“Here, your wristbands” She declared, handing them out, then she pointed to the screen. “Order whatever you want! I’ve checked the settings so only things safe for human consumption are shown”

Ryan laughed “‘Appreciate it”

She left Graham and Ryan to scrolling through the weird list of food and drink combos and took the opportunity to ask Yaz to dance.

“Okay,” Yaz agreed easily, grabbing her hand. The Doctor excitedly lead them through the crowd to a space on the dance floor.

 

The couple to their left seemed to be following the moves to some kind of choreographed dance, a few individuals were just bouncing on the spot and a rather agile squid-like dancer was simply waving all his arms (tentacles?) enthusiastically. The Doctor moved them slightly further away so they were definitely out of range, just to be on the safe side.

“What song have you picked then?” Yaz asked her curiously

“It's this piece by Uzen's one-man orchestra, been stuck in my head all day. Magnificent!“ She declared, glad to not have to yell to be heard on the dancefloor.

“I think our dance styles might end up being quite different” Yaz laughed, the Doctor tilted her head,

“What song have you picked then?”

“Spice Up Your Life...” Yaz muttered embarrassed “It was the first thing that came to mind? Don’t read into that!” She rushed to explain.

The Doctor was thrilled, “I love the Spice Girls, stopped a rogue Sontaran from crashing one of their music videos once.” She found herself ready to launch into that story but stopped when Yaz suddenly asked her “Is there a way I can listen to your song too? Even if it's a song I don't know?”

The Doctor nodded and raised her hand “Do you mind?”

Yaz shook her head, and the doctor placed her hands to her forehead gently allowing her to show Yaz the memory of Uzen playing so she could listen to the song through her neurolink too.

 

“What- how?” Yaz stuttered confused,

“Oh sorry, part of being a touch-telepath” The Doctor explained quickly, Yaz looked intrigued but remained silent as she became distracted listening to the Doctor’s choice in music.

Uzen’s symphony reached a crescendo and Yaz placed her hands on the Doctor's waist, she fumbled awkwardly, unsure what to do with her arms before finally deciding to rest them on Yaz’s shoulders, behind her neck. They swayed gently as the music surrounded them.

When the music faded to a stop the Doctor realised they were now stood ridiculously close and not even attempting to dance anymore, just trapped within the crowd of aliens with widely varying dance styles. They were all equally lost in their own worlds, the Doctor exhaled slowly. She wove her hands into Yaz’s hair watching for any signs of discomfort on Yaz's face, when she found none she pressed their lips together softly. Yaz made an adorably surprised gasp anyway before the Doctor felt her hands tighten around her waist and pull her closer, she sighed happily allowing herself to finally experience what had occupied her thoughts for a long time now.

 


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor landed less than gracefully on her purple sofa, a fairly recent addition to one of the TARDIS’s many rooms. She sighed happily and reclined, taking up the whole sofa with her feet resting at the other end. Yaz had suggested a movie night as a relaxing date after being on their feet dancing for most of the day and the Doctor was more than happy to agree to it.

“Oi, budge up” Yaz nudged her feet playfully so she could sit down, returning from picking and starting a movie. She looked completely unsurprised when the Doctor simply returned her feet to their original position with her legs resting across Yaz’s lap this time instead.

She relaxed as she felt Yaz’s fingers stroke her calves absent-mindedly and watched her carefully.

The Doctor could see Yaz was lost in thought, not paying attention to the opening credits on screen as she stared at the purple fabric of the armrest to her left.

 

“My mum still thinks we’ve been dating since the whole spider thing” She spoke eventually, the Doctor met her gaze.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, no, well I mean at the time it was annoying. Because we weren’t dating but I wanted to be…” Yaz explained “I guess it's convenient now - I don’t have to worry about how she’ll react if she already knows. Same with Sonya…”

“Ahhh” The Doctor looked bashful,  “You might have to tell Sonya.”

When Yaz could only offer her a confused look in response the Doctor continued.

“Well at first she did think that we were dating too, then when I finally convinced her we weren’t dating she told me to just 'ask you out properly' otherwise you’d never realise I fancied you”

“What, when was that?” Yaz looked baffled,

“The last time we were in Sheffield.” The Doctor thought back to Sonya’s advice, if only she had been brave enough to follow it at the time.

“Oh.” Yaz started laughing, “I guess everyone really did realise before me.”

“At least you know now,” The Doctor smiled and shuffled close enough to Yaz that she could lean forward and kiss her cheek. She rested her head on Yaz’s shoulder and surprisingly didn’t feel the urge to fill the silence, instead, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of security in having Yaz so close to her. The sounds of the film playing from the projector fading to background noise.

 

When she reopened her eyes her thoughts had begun to drift,

“Do you think Ryan and Graham know we're together now?” She asked gently,

“Ryan - definitely” Yaz answered without hesitation, “And Graham? I doubt even he missed how close we were acting earlier, even if he was distracted dancing to Elvis.”

The Doctor smiled at the memory, “Mm I suppose you’re right” She agreed.   _Maybe it was a bit late to be thinking about that now._ Yaz didn’t seem bothered but maybe she should have checked whether Yaz wanted the rest of the team to know yet before she kissed her in the middle of the dancefloor. There were so many things to consider in a relationship, the Doctor couldn’t help but feel like she was failing at all of them.

Possibly sensing the Doctor was overthinking something Yaz nudged her lightly.

“Is that okay with you? That they know?” She asked shyly.

“Of course!” The Doctor was quick to reassure Yaz, she didn’t want her to get the impression she was embarrassed to admit her feelings for Yaz. Especially not after hearing about some of Yaz’s past experiences.

“I was just worried that maybe you had wanted to keep it between us for a bit but I never asked”

Yaz seemed unconcerned “Don’t worry, I would’ve told you if I did. But I’m happy with them knowing, it would be nice to call you my girlfriend”

The Doctor beamed,

“I’d like that too, oooh I’ve never been a girlfriend before!” She realised, the idea was definitely nerve-wracking but undeniably exciting.

 

She felt Yaz thread her fingers through her hair as she pulled the Doctor in for a kiss. She sighed contentedly as Yaz got to the fine hair at the nape of her neck. When they pulled apart Yaz’s adoring smile made the Doctor kiss her once more, before brushing her thumb across her cheek. The moment felt almost trance-like to the Doctor, she felt a dazed happiness surround her.

The movie was entirely ignored by this point, not that the Doctor had been paying that much attention from the beginning. She was undeniably distracted by her girlfriend. However, any date where she could spend the majority of it admiring Yaz and the rest of it kissing her sounded perfect in her mind.

 

When Graham stumbled across them later Yaz was fast asleep, curled up against the Doctor’s side with her head resting against her chest. He smiled when the Doctor looked over to him,

“Good night Doc” He said quietly,

“‘Night Graham” She mouthed in response, watching as he turned to leave, looking ever so slightly smug… The Doctor suspected him and Ryan had some form of a bet going on. Probably since she first went to Ryan for advice if not before then.

The Doctor didn’t feel like sleeping for another few days but she didn’t feel restless just laying there with Yaz either. Of course, she would wake Yaz soon and convince her to sleep in her actual bed rather than wedged probably uncomfortably between the Doctor and the sofa. For now though the Doctor was simply enjoying the warmth and the peaceful look on Yaz’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't really written Thasmin in an established relationship before so i'm just seeing where it takes me now,


	7. Chapter 7

It had been exactly 4 days since Yaz had agreed to be her girlfriend and okay maybe the Doctor didn’t actually need to introduce Yaz as her girlfriend to  _ everyone  _ they met on their adventures, but the feeling of being able to call Yaz her’s was wonderful and she couldn’t imagine stopping any time soon. 

“I think my family are in. You sure you want to walk me back and face their questioning again?” Yaz cut off her thoughts, poking her lightly in the side.

The Doctor jumped, “Of course I’m walking you back” She reassured, trying not to sound nervous. Normally the only thing better than introducing Yaz as her girlfriend was hearing Yaz introduce the Doctor as  _ her  _ girlfriend but today was unusually nerve-wracking. Yes she’d met Yaz’s family before, and Sonya had basically already given her support of their relationship but she was still worried Yaz’s parents thought she was at very best a bit odd and at worst a terrible influence on their daughter… Especially if they found out how much danger they got into regularly on their travels.

She took a deep breath and intertwined her fingers with Yaz’s, who squeezed her hand in comfort. “My parents already like you, you have nothing to worry about. Plus they already think we’re dating anyway - nothing’s gonna change.” 

The Doctor nodded, feeling braver with Yaz close by her side.

When they reached Yaz’s flat the two of them paused outside her door and faint voices could be heard from inside the flat.

 

Yaz smiled sweetly, “Thanks for walking me back, you can come in if you want? But it's okay if you don’t” 

The Doctor straightened her shoulders and stood up taller, “I want to” She managed to sound reasonably sure of herself. She was glad she did when Yaz kissed her cheek in response and lead her into the flat.

 

Najia called out from the kitchen,

“Hakim is that you?”

“No Mum, it's me and the Doctor” Yaz replied, entering the kitchen and going to hug her mother. The Doctor hovered awkwardly nearby as Najia checked up on her daughter after not seeing her for a few days (from her perspective at least) and Yaz insisted cheerfully that she was fine. She noticed Sonya was across the room leaning against the kitchen counter, a knowing look crossing her face when she looked up from her phone. The Doctor blushed and turned away to face Yaz and Najia again instead.

“Doctor” Najia nodded at her seriously, the Doctor tensed for a moment before Najia properly smiled and she relaxed.

She smiled back widely. “Hello Najia” 

“Can she stay for tea?” Yaz asked quickly, Najia seemed pleased with this at least

“Of course” She agreed.

The Doctor thanked her happily, Najia convinced them to make themselves comfortable around the table whilst they waited for Hakim to return with ingredients from the shops.

“What did you do with your days off then?” Najia directed at Yaz, however, she also made eye contact with the Doctor, clearly the fact they had spent those days together was no surprise to Yaz’s mum.

The Doctor glanced at Yaz before they both answered.

“Travelling”

“We took a trip to London” Yaz expanded, not mentioning exactly which century they had visited London in.

The Doctor didn’t want to lie too much so she let Yaz do the talking for once and kept her own answers short. 

They were interrupted by Sonya placing the teapot on the table,  “How about your date last week?” She said nonchalantly. 

The Doctor immediately felt her cheeks go warm and looked down at her hands, fidgeting nervously.

“It was lovely, we went for a walk and then to the Winter Gardens” Yaz explained, Najia raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on the fact that Yaz hadn’t denied she was dating the Doctor this time. Instead, Najia smiled kindly “Well i’m glad you enjoyed yourselves”.

The Doctor gazed at Yaz who was blushing faintly but couldn’t seem to keep the smile from her face either.

 

Hakim returned not long afterwards, and was pleased to have someone extra to cook for. After greeting his daughter and the Doctor he left to start making tea and Najia followed him into the kitchen not-so-subtly leaving Yaz and the Doctor to have a moment to themselves. 

Sonya had also conveniently made her escape to answer her phone the second her mother had left.

“‘Alright?” Yaz asked gently

The Doctor clasped her hand in her own and beamed, “Never better”

 

They did, surprisingly, make it through tea. The Doctor had found herself roped into a conversation with Hakim discussing various conspiracy theories, Yaz had made eye contact briefly with a look of amusement on her face. Sonya had only asked a few awkward questions and Najia hadn't questioned them too heavily on their travels. When it started to get late the Doctor sensed she should probably make her exit, she said her goodbyes to Yaz’s family who allowed Yaz to see her to the door by herself.

Yaz shut the door behind her, stepping out into the corridor to give them some privacy. 

“Good night Doctor” She cupped her cheek carefully.

“Good night Yasmin” The Doctor breathed, before leaning in for a kiss. What was only really intended to be a light ‘goodnight’ kiss ended up lasting longer than the Doctor realised until Yaz pulled away taking a deep breath.

She left her hands wrapped around the Doctor’s waist where they had ended up during their kiss. Both were reluctant to break the moment but Sonya’s voice from the other side of the door snapped them out of it.

“Is Yaz still out there?” They could hear her asking, “Bet they’re snogging-”

This was followed by a stern “Sonya.” from Yaz’s mum.

 

They both found themselves trying not to laugh at being so clearly busted before Yaz sighed,

“I should go, I think I need to get at least one shift in whilst i’m back. I know it's silly, you have a time machine an’ all but I don’t want to forget how to do my job - even if it lacks the same excitement” Yaz whispered

The Doctor smiled, brushing a strand of hair out of Yaz’s face and tucking it behind her ear. “It’s not silly, you’re doing an important job. The world needs more Yasmin Khans,”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Yaz checked,

“Promise. I need Yasmin Khan too of course” The Doctor found herself admitting quietly. Yaz gave her one last kiss before stepping back into her flat.

 

The Doctor was still grinning as she practically skipped her way back to her TARDIS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished exam week only to have a report due in at the end of this week :( when will I be freeee??

**Author's Note:**

> Start of a multichapter fic! I have a few ideas for what's to come...  
> Enjoy!


End file.
